WHEN WE LOSE OUR SENSE OF HISTORY History is gradually become extinct in our educational system. I doubt if any parent will be glad to hear that their children wants to go and read History as a course in the University these days. Yet, that is one of the foolishness of our generation. Anyone who loses a sense of history will keep repeating history because he has nothing to learn from history. Belshazzar was a bad student of history and he paid dearly for it. We were told in Daniel 5 of how this king was so happy one day that he brought out all the vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father took from Jerusalem and was using them to drink wine with his wives and concubines (1-3). Then a handwriting came on the wall and verse 6 says, “the kings countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.” When Daniel was brought in to interpret the meaning of the handwriting, his analysis was simple. In verses 18-22 he told him how his father Nebuchadnezzar, reigned in glory and honour over many kingdoms and nations of the earth, But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.” He became like an animal in the bush “till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.” Now Daniel struck the issue when he got to verse 22-23, BUT YOU HIS SON, BELSHAZZAR, HAVE NOT HUMBLED YOUR HEART, ALTHOUGH YOU KNEW ALL THIS. And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them.” In other words, “you knew the history of your father but you have refused to learn from it. Therefore, God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (25-28). What is the essence of the histories we hear, watch on TV, and read in books everyday if we will not learn from them? What is the essence of the Bible we carry if with all we read and learn from it daily, we never give our lives a thought? History does not just tell us stories but teaches us lessons. I think it is time we begin to take its lessons serious. There are two reasons for this. It is better we learn from other people’s experience than to learn from ours. It is better we gain wisdom from what has happened in times past than use our own lives to learn our lessons. In fact we may not be alive to tell the story or use the lesson. The second reason is that our own lives are also leaving a story behind for generations to come. When the history of today is written tomorrow, which portion of it will our names occupy? I encourage you friend, learn from the history of others and decide to write a good history for yourself by leaving a good legacy behind. History ultimately is HIS-STORY. What will be your story?
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 05:16:17 +0000
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